Woodwind Faculty
Hover your mouse over any faculty member to read a short biography.
Nina Assimakopoulos
M.M., Hochschule for Music (Munich, Germany)
Assistant Professor (flute)
Nina Assimakopoulos Recipient of numerous awards including two Fulbright Grants, the National Society of Arts and Letters Career award, the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Endowment and the Munich Academy of Music “Meisterklasse” Certificate; performances as principal flute with the Munich City Opera and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Academy Orchestra, as well as international concerts, broadcasts and most recently a solo debut at Carnegie Hall; active as a concert soloist, chamber music performer, recording artist, master class and workshop facilitator; has premiered the works of numerous contemporary composers; teachers include Peter Lloyd at the Indiana University School of Music and Paul Meisen at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany, and under Leone Buyse and Doriot Anthony Dwyer as a two time fellow at the Tanglewood Institute; formerly professor of flute at Houghton College in New York.
Dr. Jacqueline Leclair
D.M.A., SUNY at Stony Brook
Assistant Professor (oboe)
Dr. Jacqueline Leclair Presented solo and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Russia and Europe, and can frequently be heard performing with New York City ensembles such as Sospeso, Ensemble 21 and Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Band; also a member of the new music chamber orchestras Sequitur and Alarm Will Sound; specializing in the study and performance of new music, has premiered many works and regularly presents classes in contemporary music, and its techniques, at schools such as UCLA, the Eastman School of Music, Brigham Young University, the North Carolina School for the Arts and the University of California San Diego; recorded extensively, receiving critical acclaim in particular for her premiere recording of Roger Reynolds’ Summer Island; editor of Luciano Berio’s Sequenza VIIa Supplementary Edition, published by Universal Edition Vienna; recording of the work is on Mode Records titled, Berio: The Complete Sequenzas, Alternate Sequenzas; studied with Richard Killmer and Ronald Roseman at the Eastman School of Music and SUNY at Stony Brook, where she earned a bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees and a performer’s certificate.
Dr. John Sampen
D.M.A., Northwestern University
Distinguished Artist Professor (saxophone)
Dr. John Sampen Distinguished Artist Professor and coordinator of woodwinds; classical saxophone specialist with a doctorate degree from Northwestern University; studied with Frederick Hemke, Donald Sinta and Larry Teal; winner of numerous competitions and awards including certificate from International Geneva Concours; jurist for Concours International de Saxophone (Belgium); soloist and clinician throughout the United States and in Switzerland, Thailand, Germany, Belgium, France, Taiwan, England, former Soviet Union, Japan, Canada, Poland and the Netherlands; recorded on the CRI, Capstone, Orion, Neuma and Albany labels; distinguished contemporary artist with NEA; Reader's Digest grants to commission major American composers; saxophonist with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra; former faculty member of Wichita State University; clinician for the Selmer Company; past-president of the North American Saxophone Alliance.
Kevin Schempf
M.M. with performer’s certificate, Eastman School of Music
Associate Professor (clarinet)
Kevin Schempf Solo clarinetist with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and bass clarinetist with the Toledo Symphony; graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy; holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees with the performer’s certificate from the Eastman School of Music; former member of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and The United States Coast Guard Band; has played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Lima Symphony, Nashville Chamber Orchestra, the Chautauqua Orchestra, the Skaneanteles Festival and the Society for New Music; chamber music performances with CrossSound in Alaska, the New London Contemporary Players, Chamber Music Plus, the Wall Street Chamber Players, Ying Quartet and the New World Consort; additional performances in Germany, Russia, Sweden and Japan; previously taught on the faculties of Connecticut College and Wesleyan University.
Dr. Nathaniel Zeisler
D.M.A., University of Michigan
Assistant Professor (bassoon)
Dr. Nathaniel Zeisler Doctorate from the University of Michigan; master’s from the University of Michigan and bachelor’s in choral and instrumental education from Old Dominion University; founder and executive director of the Envision Chamber Consort, dedicated to presenting music as a form of contemporary communication; worked in the public schools teaching elementary general music Norfolk, Va.; private teacher and freelance musician in the Hampton Roads, Va., and Ann Arbor, Mich., areas; served on the faculty of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and Interlochen Arts Academy; participated in numerous summer festivals including three summer tours of Europe with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine and a summer tour of the United States and Russia with the American Russian Youth Orchestra; traveled to Russia and Finland with the Amirus Chamber Players in an extensive chamber music tour; teachers have included Daniel Matsukawa, Katherine Oliver, Steven Wilson, Richard Beene and Jeffrey Lyman.